3rd May 2016 06:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - Gold miner Centamin PLC on Tuesday said gold production in the first quarter grew sequentially and year-on-year, resulting in the company leaving its guidance for the year unchanged.
The FTSE 250-listed miner said gold production in the quarter to the end of March was 125,268 ounces, up 6.0% on the fourth quarter of 2015 and 16% higher year-on-year.
Cash cost of production in the quarter was USD603.00 per ounce, with all-in sustaining costs at USD758.00 per ounce, Centamin said. Costs came in lower than full-year guidance of USD680.00 per ounce and USD900.00 all-in.
Centamin maintained its production guidance for the full year of 470,000 ounces of gold and kept its cost guidance on hold at USD680 per ounce, with a USD900 all-in cost.
For the first quarter, Centamin said pretax profit grew to USD40.9 million from USD28.6 million a year earlier. Revenue rose to USD148.1 million from USD135.5 million, driven by the growth in production which offset a slight decline in the average realised price of gold in the quarter to USD1,196.00 per ounce from USD1,216.00 a year earlier.
The group said it continued to see positive drilling results from the Sukari gold mine in Egypt in the first quarter and said exploration work continues to support the potential for high-grade economic mineralisation at its Burkina Faso assets. Centamin also saw encouraging results from initial drilling in the Ivory Coast.
Chief Executive Andrew Pardey said the first quarter marked a "solid start" for Centamin, and the focus for 2016 will remain on achieving sustained productivity and cost improvements.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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